Doctor warns of health effects of WiFi exposure

Doctor warns of health effects of WiFi exposure

WIFI health concerns

Magda Havas, associate professor of environmental and resource studies at Trent University, speaks to concerned parents about the potential adverse health effects from exposure to WiFi in schools at the Port Credit Legion on May 9.

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Caledon Enterprise

ByJason Spencer

Torstar Network

Dozens of parents gathered at the Port Credit Legion on May 9 to learn about the potential dangers of WiFi in schools.

The information session, hosted by Concerned Peel Parents for the Health & Safety of all Children, was prompted by the Peel District School Board’s decision to install WiFi in all 253 of its schools by mid-fall.

Though the Board cites research from Public Health Ontario and the World Health Organization stating there are no adverse health effects from WiFi exposure, Magda Havas, associate professor of environmental and resource studies at Trent University, disagrees.

“Exposing children to wireless routers as a way of accessing the Internet is a very, very serious mistake,” she told the 80 or so people in attendance.

Havas cited several negative health effects of exposure to the microwave radiation WiFi emits such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, lack of concentration and increased heart rate.

“Students and teachers are going to become ill and that’s what I’m most concerned about.”

Duration of exposure to low-level microwave radiation, Havas notes, is “absolutely critical.” Prolonged exposure could increase people’s chances of getting cancer, she said.

With children in school for an average of six hours a day, five days a week for 40 weeks a year, they will be exposed to 1,200 hours of WiFi radiation in a single school year, she cautioned.

“In my mind, to say that this perfectly safe, is based on no science whatsoever.”

Athina Tagidou is concerned about the safety of her daughter, a Grade 6 student at Tomken Road Middle School. Working as a support worker in a Mississauga school, Tagidou also disagrees with the the Peel Board’s Bring Your Own Device initiative, which will see students bringing personal electronic devices into the classroom.

“The discipline that children need in order to stay focussed on their work is not there when they have accessibility to any kind of electronic device,” she said.

Come this fall, the Peel Board stated in a recent newsletter that it plans on conducting “random, representative testing of WiFi levels in schools and work sites.” The testing, the letter states, will be carried out by an external occupational hygienist to ensure that levels continue to be below Health Canada’s guidelines for safe exposure.

If the health concerns Havas listed fail to sway any detractors, she also points out that WiFi will soon be out of style.

“What’s coming is LiFi — they’re actually using light to carry the information.”

The meeting also included presentations from former Microsoft Canada president Frank Clegg, who spoke on behalf of Citizens 4 Safe Technology, and Rodney Palmer from the Simcoe County Safe School Committee.

http://www.caledonenterprise.com/news-story/2558393-doctor-warns-of-health-effects-of-wifi-exposure/